School Life in the Sixteenth Century. 181
now placed under the jurisdiction of the lower master,
whereas the third, second, and first forms have almost, if
not entirely, ceased to exist. At five o'clock the boys
were awakened, by one of the prapostoi-s or monitors, with
the cry of * Surgite'; while dressing they chanted Latin
Psalms. Each boy had to make his own bed and to
sweep the floor. They then went down stairs two-and-
two to work. At Winchester there was a morning service,
at Eton notie. *The usher read prayers in the long
dormitory at six ; work went on till nine, when there was
probably a short breakfast. At ten o'clock the boys
were summoned for prayers. Dinner was served at
eleven, and the boys marched to the hall and back again
in double file. They then worked continuously from
twelve to three, they played from three to four, had
lessons from four to five, and then supper. From six to
eight the boys worked under the superintendence of the
monitors, having at seven a draught of beer and a slice
of bread. At eight they went to bed. In the summer,
more time was allowed for recreation ; on Friday the
scholars were punished for the faults they had committed
during the week, and on that day and Saturday they
were examined. Latin was almost the only subject of
study. The lower boys had to decline and conjugate
words, and the upper boys to repeat rules of grammar.
Some Latin composition was done every day—themes
by the lower forms, verses by the two upper. In the
first form they studied Cato and Vives; in the second
Terence, Lucian and JEsop, the last two in Latin;
in the third, Terence, ^Esop, and Sturm's selections
from Cicero's letters; in the fourth, Terence, Ovid's
' Tristia/ and the epigrams of Martial, Catullus, and Sir
Thomas More; in the fifth, Ovid's 'Metamorphoses/
Horace, Cicero's letters, Valerius Maximus, Lucius